Salt Lake County is located in northern Utah.  Its population of approximately 1,185,000 includes Salt Lake City and many suburbs and unincorporated areas in the metropolitan region around the state capitol, such as Midvale,  Sandy,  South Jordan, and Taylorsville.  Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in this area for at least six decades. Recent examples include a case in September, 2021, in which three people were arrested and charged with using Asian massage parlors in Utah County as a front for human trafficking. The three had connections to six massage parlors in several Salt Lake County locations where women were forced to perform sex acts with “customers” in exchange for money, according to charging documents. Two were charged in 3rd District Court with engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity and money laundering, second-degree felonies; exploiting prostitution, a third-degree felony; and two counts of prostitution, a class B misdemeanor. Other charges included aiding prostitution, maintaining a public nuisance, and money laundering.  The investigation began earlier that year when the Utah Attorney General’s Statewide Enforcement of Crimes by Undocumented Residents Task Force received a tip from a woman that “she was being forced to engage in commercial sex,” the charges stated. The woman said she agreed to do massages only, but claimed that after taking the job she was forced to perform sex acts. The victims asked to go home, were not allowed to, and requested law enforcement assistance. Undercover agents visited the massage parlors while posing as clients and were offered sexual acts in exchange for money, according to charging documents.

In a separate case in October, 2021, a Salt Lake County man was arrested on multiple felony charges, including aggravated exploitation of prostitution, a second-degree felony; distribution/offer/arrange/distribution of controlled substances, a second-degree felony; two counts of knowingly produce/dispense/manufacture or a controlled substance, a second-degree felony; exploiting prostitution, a third-degree felony, and aiding prostitution, a class A misdemeanor. A probable cause statement filed by the Utah Attorney General’s Office says that a victim  met with law enforcement agencies regarding an individual distributing narcotics, specifically heroin, methamphetamine, and other drugs, and that the same man was involved in the exploitation of women within the commercial sex industry and that she was specifically a victim of this individual.

Sheriff’s deputies have conducted periodic reverse stings with the county for years, often collaborating with municipal police departments.  For example, in May 2018 a four day prostitution sting operation in the Salt Lake City area resulted in the arrest of “dozens” of men who tried to buy sex from undercover female officers who walked the streets. In February, 2023 a web-based sting resulted in 12 arrests on charges including sexual solicitation of a child, enticing a minor, and criminal solicitation. Undercover agents posed as children on online dating and social media apps, or would pose as adults offering their children to predators for a fee. One man allegedly arranged to pay to sexually assault a 7-year-old girl and another man, a long-haul truck driver from Taylorsville, was arrested after allegedly arranging for the paid sexual abuse of a 7-year-old boy and sending “child pornography” (child sexual abuse materials, or CSAM) to the undercover agent, charging documents stated. The effort was led by the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and targeted “people who use the internet to solicit and entice minors in our community,” according to the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office. During the operation, which took place throughout the Salt Lake Valley, officers searched hotel rooms and the streets for those involved with prostitution.

After some of the reverse stings within the county, the identities of the men arrested have been publicly disclosed. Some of the men arrested within the county have been routed to the Salt Lake City “john school” program, which operated from approximately 2008-2016.